The head of Bangkok’s Chokechai police station Pol Col Sretthasak Yimcharoen has been transferred to an inactive post in the wake of a commando-style raid on an illegal casino by the Economic Crime Division (ECD) on Saturday.
Around 50 officers from the ECD raided a shophouse on Sukhonthasawat Road in Lat Phrao district and arrested 71 suspected gamblers, seizing THB200,000 cash and football betting slips worth hundreds of thousands of baht, the Bangkok Post reported.
The gambling den seems to have been operating under the nose of Pol Col Sretthasak – and the Chokechai/Lat Phrao area is rumored to be home to many more.
Pol Col Sretthasak Yimcharoen, and four officers at the station – Pol Lt Col Theprat Sakulmeerit, Pol Lt Col Kachornpong Jitphakphum, Pol Lt Col Jirawat Yodkrahom and Pol Maj Banthoon Thepsuwan – were transferred to the Metropolitan Police Division 4 for a month pending an investigation.
Witnesses in the neighborhood told the Post that the illegal casino is owned by an influential figure named “Hia Tue,” and has been open for only a few months.
Earlier last week Lat Phrao police raided a gambling den near Happy Land market on Friday night and arrested 58 gamblers.
